DEFINING THE DEVOTIONAL LIFE!

How do you define a marriage? By the number of children produced? The length of the marriage? The estate of the married couple? What do you think? Maybe the number of friends or perhaps the size of their house?

I think not, to any of the above. The exteriors of marriage are simply interesting anecdotal information. The heart of a marriage is the personal relationship between the husband and the wife. Some of the best marriages I have ever seen are between people who have little of this life’s “stuff” but they are in love, they communicate clearly, they have weathered some difficult circumstances and they are happy in each other’s presence. Some of the worst marriages I have ever seen involve people who are wealthy, they barely tolerate each other,they barely communicate and can hardly wait to go out and do something that does not involve their spouse. They seemingly have everything but they actually have nothing much.

How do we define our walk with God? Is the smiling, Scripture-quoting, endlessly positive, ever chipper nuisance that you see at church all the time actually the real deal? I don’t know that and neither do you. The definition of the person who really walks with God is simple and yet it is hidden. I’ll explain what I mean in just a moment.

The definition of our personal walk with God requires an answer that only you can give. You don’t owe that answer to anybody; it’s just for you and, of course, God. The one issue that defines our walk with God is our devotional life. In marriage, the issue is defined by the relationship between the two involved (a man and a woman, I mean; let there be no mistake about that in my definition). In our spiritual journey, the defining issue is our relationship with the Father. The marriage relationship has an uncanny similarity to our devotional relationship with our Heavenly Father.

In marriage the husband and wife do not exchange their vows, give each other a ring, kiss, and then move to separate parts of the world. For argument’s sake, let’s have the husband move to Iceland right after the marriage ceremony and the wife to Australia. Once in a while they exchange letters, e-mails and (be still my heart) they actually talk to each other on the phone, but only once in a long while. Now I ask you, is that really a marriage? In name only is it a marriage, but there will be no fruit from this arrangement.

But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh”(Mark 10:6-8).

The communication of the partners in marriage finds its fulfillment in the consummation of physical intimacy…they become one flesh. And so it is in the spiritual realm; our communication is fulfilled in the intimate relationship that we have with the Father.

I believe the devotional life is so important that the enemy attacks us there as much or more than he does anywhere else. If the enemy can derail your devotional life, he will cripple your growth and spiritual vitality and render you spiritually impotent!

It is one thing to say that God is a master craftsman and He will make me into a beautiful instrument. The fact is that some are so spiritually passive that they never do anything to cooperate with God. They never take the time to fine-tune their spiritual life, they just stumble along with no real vibrancy in their intimate life with God. If you are not willing to work at your devotional life, then what you are really saying is, “God doesn’t have all of me, I’m just too busy and way too cool for that old-fashioned stuff.” You limit God’s ability to work in your life…yes, that’s what I said, You limit God’s ability to work in your life!

To all my married friends. Men, do you ever do something special for your spouse, buy her something she wasn’t expecting, take her out to dinner on the spur of the moment, tell her how much she means to you after all these years? Do you ever just do things for your wife like vacuuming or doing the dishes or (I know I’m going to get into trouble on this one) dusting? If you don’t, you should and you should start today. Your greatest reward will be the smile on your wife’s face!

How about surprising God by spending a little more time than usual in His presence? You could really shock Him by going on a fast for more than three hours (that’s about as long as Missourians and Canadians can go without a feeding). You could surprise and shock Him by making a special love gift (I’m talking money here) to a ministry or a needy person and doing it in the name of the Lord. Or a random act of kindness because you know that’s the kind of thing Jesus did. No one else ever needs to know about the “special” things you do in your relationship with the Lord, but He will know and He will smile!

One final thought for today. We are seeing an avalanche of broken marriages in and out of the church. The divorce courts are jammed with people ending their covenant of marriage. What is this saying to us about the spiritual condition of the church when we are told that at least 50 percent of Christians will go through a divorce? I would love to hear some of your thoughts on this. Drop me a comment by clicking on the envelope at the bottom right corner of the article.